)
As counting progressed through Sunday for the Maharashtra Assembly, early indications showed the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) leading in 114 seats, making it the single largest party by a mile and establishing it as the frontrunner to form a government.
Union minister of state for information and broadcasting Prakash Javadekar said people have voted for good governance. ''They have rejected Congress... It's a positive mandate," he added.
The Shiv Sena, which fought independently and repeatedly targeted BJP for betrayal and back stabbing for breaking the 25-year-old alliance, is far behind at 62 seats.
As expected, the Congress and Nationalist Congress Party, which ruled the state for 15 years but contested separately after seat-sharing talks broke down, are struggling for the No. 3 and 4 slots.
The biggest loser, however, seems to be Raj Thackeray-led Maharashtra Navnirman Sena; from an impressive debut of 13 seats in 2009, the MNS is leading in a mere three seats.
A visibly charged state BJP president Devendra Fadnavis, who is a leading candidate for the chief minister's post, said the party will certainly form a ''transparent and honest'' government in Maharashtra and that the chief minister would also be from the BJP. On the issue of the BJP approaching its former ally Shiv Sena for government formation in the event of a hung Assembly, Fadnavis clarified that the Shiv Sena was not BJP's enemy and that such a decision will be taken only after the final results are announced.
He said the BJP's parliamentary board, its highest decision-making body, would meet at 4 pm this evening. "I'm confident that the BJP will form the next government in Maharashtra and the chief minister will be from the party," Fadnavis said after a meeting of party leaders in Mumbai to evaluate next steps.
Rashtriya Swayamsevak Sangh ideologue MG Vaidya in Nagpur announced that in the larger interest of the state both BJP and Shiv Sena should come together to form the next state government.
Similarly, Shiv Sena chief Uddhav Thackeray, who had declared that he was ready to become the chief minister, said the poll results have proved that there was no Modi wave. However, he added that '''all options are open to me”.
Further, Uddhav's close confidant and Shiv Sena MP Anil Desai said that if the proposal came from the BJP's national leadership then the Shiv Sena would take a call about joining forces with them to form the government in the state. Sena spokesperson Sanjay Raut was quoted as saying that Thackeray would become the next chief minister of the state, opening up multiple possibilities on power-sharing.
I&B minister Javadekar, though, said it was for the Shiv Sena to make a move towards reconciliation.
Congress, which headed a coalition government with NCP for 15 years, has been all but decimated with a lead in only 44 seats. State Congress chief Manikrao Thakre announced that he has resigned owing moral responsibility for party's humiliating defeat in the state. The party's former ministers Narayan Rane, Harshvardhan Patil, Sanjay Deotale (who contested on a BJP ticket), were defeated.
NCP, the Congress partner in power until recently, too was leading in only 43 seats. NCP, which was attacked by Prime Minister Narendra Modi and other parties as being the most corrupt, failed to change its image during the campaigning. Despite party chief Sharad Pawar taking centrestage, the party failed to cash in on his presence. Former deputy chief minister Ajit Pawar's alleged involvement in the multi crore irrigation scam and his subsequent urine-related taunt weighed heavily against the party.
Raj Thackeray led Maharashtra Navnirman Sena failed to gain in the five-cornered contest due largely to poor organization and lack of any concrete agenda. Raj Thackeray's much debated Vision Maharashtra failed to appeal to the voters. MNS, which had won 13 seats in 2009 poll, is leading in just three seats while its leading stars including Nitin Sardesai, Bala Nandgaonkar, Pravin Darekar lost badly.
Interestingly, Majlis-e-Ittehadul Muslimeen (MIM), which focused on about 20 assembly seats, has gained in parts of Marathwada. It has stunned the the Congress, NCP, BJP and Shiv Sena by leading in Aurangabad and the adjoining districts in particular.
Post-BJP win Mumbai erupts
